By Sunday at the latest, it should be clear whether there will be a Brexit deal.
However: it doesn't look good.
The EU and Great Britain are tough - and the risk of failure is great.
The chances are diminishing that a trade agreement between the
EU and Great Britain will be
reached
in December
.
But: British Prime Minister
Boris Johnson
is not that critical of
a
no-deal Brexit
.
The subject of fishing, which is symbolically so important for the British, is a sticking point - in which Johnson even
wants to
involve the
Navy
.
Update from December 19, 8:41 p.m.:
In their negotiations on a
Brexit trade pact
, Great Britain and the EU are still clearly apart.
“The most likely result” is currently a no deal, it was said on Saturday from negotiating circles.
"We will turn every stone to bring about a deal." But there are still "significant open questions" about fishing and subsidies.
"The negotiations continue, but we are still far apart."
Brexit deal or no deal?
EU complies with fishing - the association reacts indignantly
Especially
fishing is a sticking point
.
Observers of the
tough negotiations
reported on Twitter on Saturday that the EU could take a step on London on the contentious issue.
According to this, EU negotiator Michel Barnier is said to have offered that the Community
would repay
the British
25 percent of the value of the fish
that EU fishermen catch in British waters.
That would be significantly more than has been discussed so far - but not nearly as much as London is demanding.
A European fishermen's association then warned that the EU should not deceive the industry.
+
Dover: Shortly before Great Britain finally leaves the EU, the pressure can be felt on the important trade route across the English Channel.
The ports in Great Britain are congested.
© Gareth Fuller / PA Wire / dpa
"In the interests of all fishermen, we want to avoid a no deal," said the head of the European Fisheries Alliance (EFA), Gerard van Balsfoot.
"But the deal that is now being proposed is just as bad." That is the timetable for the British exit *.
Brexit: British MPs are allowed to go on Christmas vacation despite the Brexit hang-up
Update from December 16, 7.12 p.m.:
Despite the Brexit tremor, the British MPs can start their Christmas vacation on Friday.
If, however, a
trade pact
with the EU should come about
in the next few days
, the parliamentarians would be
called back
to the
emergency meeting as
soon as possible
, it was said from Downing Street, the British
seat of
government.
That could even be early next week.
"Parliament has long shown that it can move quickly and the country would not expect anything else," it said.
Actually, trips to and from regions with the highest corona warning level, which also applies to London, should be avoided.
However, many members of parliament have only been connected to parliament virtually from their constituencies for months.
The talks with the EU should continue under massive time pressure in the next few days.
An agreement would have to be ratified in good time.
Update from December 13, 6:16 p.m.:
Furthermore,
everything seems open
in the dispute over a
Brexit trade pact
- it is not even clear whether
a
decision will
actually be
made on a deal or a no-deal
this
Sunday
.
Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel
(CDU) has meanwhile reacted dryly to allegations from the island at her Corona press conference.
When they were
told
that the
British press
saw themselves as one of the main culprits for the stalled negotiations, Merkel told journalists: “Aha, that's good to know.
I haven't negotiated at all, and I'm not negotiating at all. ”“ Germany is not negotiating this as an individual participant at all, ”emphasized the Chancellor, saying that these are
negotiations within the European Union
.
“Aha, that's good to know.
I do not negotiate at all. ”# Merkel when asked what she said about“ the British press ”describing her as the main culprit for the lack of progress in EU-UK negotiations.
#Brexit #blamegame 🇪🇺🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/cvbLvA6VnL
- Andreas Rinke (@Andreas__Rinke) December 13, 2020
Merkel also emphasized on Sunday that “everything” had to be tried “in order to achieve a result”.
The chairman of the trade committee in the European Parliament,
Bernd Lange
(SPD), described the
further postponement
as an "unworthy game".
A “serious ratification” is becoming “more and more impossible”.
And citizens and companies would have to continue to live with the uncertainty about the outcome of the talks.
No-deal Brexit is getting closer: surprising turnaround shortly before the deadline
Update from December 13, 12:51 p.m .:
Surprise!
According to information from EU circles, the European Union expects talks with Great Britain on a Brexit trade pact to continue.
The dpa learned this on Sunday after a conversation between
EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen
and
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson
.
Brexit showdown on Sunday: Johnson publishes contingency plan for no-deal scenario
Update from December 13, 11:15 a.m.:
Shortly before the end of what is expected to be the last
first
in the struggle for a
trade agreement
, the British government under Prime Minister
Boris Johnson has published
an emergency plan in the event of a no-deal scenario.
As a government spokesman announced, "every single foreseeable scenario has been played through".
On
Sunday
, both sides want to
come
to a
decision
as to whether the negotiations will achieve a breakthrough or whether they will be declared a failure.
Update from December 12th, 8:03 pm:
Boris Johnson
last described
the
“no-deal Brexit
”
as “very, very likely”
.
According to information from the
dpa
, there is now an
end to the struggle
for compromises after the
final exit
from the
EU
.
Before the
self-imposed deadline expires
, the UK's Prime Minister wants to
call
EU Council President Von der Leyen again
.
A decision is actually expected on Sunday.
Talks about the trade agreement have been ongoing
since February 1, 2020
.
No-deal Brexit is getting closer: Johnson is planning tough steps - he wants to use British navy against EU fishermen
+
Ursula von der Leyen (r.), President of the EU Commission, and Boris Johnson (l.), Prime Minister of Great Britain
© Aaron Chown / PA Wire / dpa
First report from December 12th, 1:09 p.m .:
London / Brussels - January 1, 2021 is approaching, the
Brexit negotiations
seem more hopeless: Most recently, EU Commission President
Ursula von der Leyen
said she had “low expectations” that a
trade agreement
would be concluded and come into force on time.
By this Sunday at the latest, both sides want a decision on what will happen now.
According to
Federal Foreign Minister
Heiko Maas
(SPD *), an agreement "is getting more difficult every day, but it is still possible," as the SPD politician
told
the newspapers of the
Funke media group
.
He added: “That is why we as the EU will continue to negotiate as long as the window is open even a crack.
We'll see what works by Sunday and then evaluate the situation again. "
Theoretically, time would be until shortly before the turn of the year.
Only then will the transition phase come to an end, during which
everything will remain
the same despite
the British
leaving
the
EU
.
The British media are therefore speculating whether a return to the
negotiating table
would not be possible
even if they admitted the failure on Sunday
.
Johnson on Brexit: Brits could do what they want from January 1st
The
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson
prepared his countrymen ever before to a No Deal.
It was "very, very likely" that the negotiations would fail, he said.
But that too is a solution that is "wonderful for
Great Britain
".
After all, you can do exactly what you want from January 1st, the prime minister said on Friday.
One of the main points of contention is access to fishing grounds within Britain's claimed 200-mile zone around its coasts.
The point is that the British want to decide for themselves who is allowed to catch how much in their waters.
But the exclusive
economic zone
that the country now claims is not in line with the historically evolved division of fishing grounds, as defined in the framework of the
European fisheries
policy.
Economically, the topic hardly plays a role, but symbolically it is hardly to be underestimated for the former sea power Great Britain.
Here, too, neither side wants to give in.
London even announced on Saturday that it would, if necessary, use
Royal Navy
ships
to protect
its waters
from EU fishing tractors.
Brexit: Fisheries policy and competitive conditions are two of the more contentious issues
The issue of
competitive conditions
is also unresolved
.
Brussels takes the position that competition from Great Britain can only
hope
for
duty-free trade
if both sides of the English Channel apply the same labor, social and environmental standards.
But for London that is a matter of principle.
Again and again British officials stress that it is a question of the
sovereignty of their country
.
With Brexit * you want to regain control over your own laws, borders, waters and your own money - and not adopt the EU standards, which you then no longer have any influence on.
For Johnson it is absurd that, according to his presentation, the EU demands that Great Britain should follow EU rule changes at every turn.
+
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, at a press conference
© Johanna Geron / Pool Reuters / AP / dpa
Brexit: stalemate between the EU and Great Britain - what are the two sides hoping for?
EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen countered on Friday in Brussels: The British are free to deviate from European rules in the future, for example with
regard to environmental standards
.
But the conditions for access to the
European internal market
would then also have to be adapted, in
other
words: tariffs would be introduced.
Commentators in the UK disagree on what's behind the stalemate.
Both sides could rely on the other to give in - and risk a serious miscalculation.
Or maybe Johnson gives in at the last moment in exchange for symbolic concessions and everything is just a carefully planned choreography
that is supposed to portray
him
as a fighter
in the eyes of the
Brexit hardliners
?
It would not be the first time.
But nobody can be sure.
(dpa / cibo) * Merkur.de is part of the Ippen digital network.
List of rubric lists: © Gareth Fuller / PA Wire / dpa
